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Berkeley County awards $172,772 patrol-rifle contract; purchase to be offset by forfeiture funds
Summary
The commission approved a $172,771.80 purchase of patrol rifles and accessories from Atlantic Tactical; sheriff's office said sale of old weapons and seized-property forfeiture funds will offset roughly $70,000 of the cost. One commissioner recorded a no vote and several raised questions about providing suppressors to road deputies.
The Berkeley County Commission approved a purchase of patrol rifles and related equipment from Atlantic Tactical for $172,771.80, with the sheriff's office planning to apply forfeiture proceeds and a sale of old weapons to lower the net cost to taxpayers.
Chief Deputy Eric Burnett presented the results of the RFP process and said Atlantic Tactical submitted the lowest responsive bid at $172,771.80. He said the department agreed to sell its old rifles and handguns and use existing forfeiture funds toward the purchase, an approach he described as saving the county “about $70,000.”
The purchase includes short-barrel rifles (SBR) and suppressors. Meeting discussion put the suppressor unit price at $748 each; commissioners and staff estimated roughly 90 weapons could be involved and calculated suppressor costs in the tens of thousands of dollars. Burnett and staff detailed weapon lengths and equipment specifics during the exchange.
Several commissioners questioned whether road deputies should carry suppressed SBRs. One commissioner said, “I don't know if road deputies need to have suppressed … weaponry,” and urged caution about expanding suppressed-weapons use beyond specialized teams. The sheriff's office argued suppressed weapons reduce on-scene crowd disruption and hearing damage for officers.
When the commission voted, the motion to award the purchase to Atlantic Tactical carried on a majority voice vote; the record shows at least one commissioner registered a “no” vote.
The commission did not provide a roll-call tally during the meeting. The sheriff's office said forfeiture funds will pay a large portion of the suppressors and other equipment costs, and that some costs will be offset by selling surplus weapons declared surplus by the commission earlier.
County staff said the procurement will proceed with the awarded vendor and the sheriff’s office will return if additional approvals are needed for accessories or further outlay beyond the approved amount.
